Variable speed transmission



Oct. 13, 1931. w. L. SAUNDERS VARIABLE SPEED. TRANSMISSION Filed Aug. 15. 1930 if 2,. Sazzzza'ers INVENTOR ATTORN EY5 1 In the;ordinaryflvariable speed transmis+ sion snc'haslthat'used in connection with anizfinifshe'dfor providing atight connection and Lse'c'ured together by; means of bolts 6. The ';sectiong2 isqprovidedi with an internal boss i7 I '2 and anrexternal hossgfi; The latter is prefers-1 liswiinstanoe; fromjfirst't'o secondwor second to 12 gardless of the s. zafln'ary transmission.

-' 'sion mechanism by; the" use of Which various a w I f Application fliea'mgust s 1 My inventionrelates =t0 improvements in 1 variable 'speed transmissions, and it consists 'in the combinations, gco'nstructions, and ar' rangements herein' described and claimed.

automobile and similargpow'er propelled ve-l hicles-,'- it is {necessary to manually shift gears when'fgoing from one speed to another as, fo'r 'cially if the rate atwhich the vehicle is going 41 "does not correspond'fvvithythe rate at which.

' the geaisofthe' transmissionare-turning-and: 5 this 'res'ultsvman'y timesjinstripping. tliegear's.

*An ohjectl ofmy, invention is to-Jprovide a i --device':of the hydraulic type in which means areprovided whereby: a drive shaftfmay-be I 7 upon alternate faces of thelooss as Will be seenoperatively connected. with a, driven. shaft re :1 fslrel'ative speedIof; one: or both i not the'Shafts.--

I A' furtherj.;ob ject is :a stransinisand is less :expensiveto build than 'cthe-ordi- A furtherob e'ct sito a :Qf

speeds" inayi-be', obtained and/gin Which-the necessitylfor shifting gears has beenentirely '1M ;eliminated.c;

further object=-is to provide a;transmission which: will tend- ,v-towsimplifyfthel ope a-f Anon-50f motor, vehiclesnsuch :as' autoinobiles, 31

trucks and the like:

: 13 :B1Afurther ob ect -1s to providea transmis- M;

rodspfor sealing purposes asxshowns in Figure The outerl ends of therods-17fare rigid1y connected with a; grooved" member 19 which in turn isfoperativel y connected with-a shift sion; in which means is: provided Wherejhya driver'shaftmay berigidly, connected with a V driven shaft for "rotating the latter either 4;

- directioni f, a

' w Other objects and advantages w111japp ear;

; in the v. followingspecification, and the novel 5 features of the invention will he particularly' g 4 ointed out in theappendedclaims. I

, v a My invention is illustrated inthe accom,

panying, drawings,.iormingtpart. of this applicatiominvvhich Y A v Figure l'isa longitudinal sectional view of:

:the mechanisin en'ahodyin'gmyinvention,

line-2 -2-of Figure l,- andfi 1 4.

oncho tilniorsj f line 3- -3of Figure '1.

IIn carrying out my invention; Iniake use eofjatransniission casingl comprising sections n2a-ndl3 havln flangeiportlons l and 5, re-,

spectivelyj *T e facesofthe flanges; may be any provided Withjapackingnut 9'. ,The' V bosses? and, 8,.a're positioned injalignment Y and'areprovided with a cornrnon openin for receiving a. drive shaft 110. Onefendo the driveshaitproj ects through the internal boss 66 I --7=-and'is' p'rovidedwvitha: beveled gear 11 which isldi'sposed in mesh With'a plurality of;

beveled. gear-5,312. The; latter .a r'e' mounted by referring to; Eig-ureQ; 1' The gears 12:,are o 1 0 -pref erably mounted upon bearing portions integral withjsjcrewsld The ends of, the

threaded openingslin theboss as indicated in Thez'sec on Thejnterior o'f the cylinders is ofcoursel LVE 'gIZQIl d- AZ DOWLM sleeve 15 i p edw bin.

ch of -thecy i nders h s ves are 919% Y atively connected together by a yQk T iy k seare mqu t up nsr s' 1 =-wh ich pass: through openings in the end-of v the section 3;. Packing nuts 18 surroun'dgthe' 'i -Yfi h ilattei; is preferably of a bif catedconstructionand i 1 course operative; J gl connected within th groove i thegmemp "ber 19 s a I a p thefcasingk-l. P Each ylinder; contains a; pis

; is associatedith 583/61 of the, pistons, ze Thus the cylinders is ifib 'ided" an, a i

vr'sionwhich is more compact, has, fewer parts, ,jlatter' mayibe threaded and disposed within; f is provided with a pluralityif integral cylinderssl le; -Thecylinders 'are f v'preferably cast;,with the section fasa I ton'221 -:.The;;pistonsfare slidably disp sd I i j v 3 -Figure 2'is ase'ctional view taken along the :eflwithin, theisleeves 15;. v gAconnecting rod -23 suitable liquid, preferably an oil.

it will be seen that the pistons are operatively connected with the gears 12. The rods may be connected with the gears through the medium of connecting elements 24. The connecting elements are preferably positioned at 120 from one another. The pistons will be moved in reciprocatory paths through the rotation of the shaft 10. Normally the sleeves 15 are positioned for uncovering the openings 21. mounted upon a boss associatedwith the section 3. A driven shaft '26 isrigidly connected with the boss 25. The sleeves maybe shifted through the medium of the shift =lev-- er 20. The sleeves may be shifted various distances for uncoveringiany desired amount of the ports 21 y g V a V The gears 1 and their associated pistons will of course be activewhenthe motor-is running. The casing 1 is filled with any When the sleeves 15have been shifted for uncovering the ports 21, the :oil or :other liquid within the casing is undergoing a churning action during the operation of the pistons. In other words, the liquid is shift ed within the casing and through the ports.

in referring to Figure 1 that the pistons-'22 21. 1 When it is desired to rigidly connect the "drive shaft10 with the driven shaft26, the

sleevesare moved for covering the ports21.

At this timethe two shafts will be rigidly When the two shafts are -'locked together;

rigidly connected, the shaft '26 will of course rotate at the same speed that the drive shaft is beingrotated. The shaft 26 may-, however, be rotated at various rates of speed with respect to the drive shaft while the latter is being rotated at a given and constant speed. This maybe accomplished through the shifting of the sleeves 15 for uncovering'vari'ous amounts 'of the ports 21. The speed of the 'shaft'QG will tend to assume the speed of the drive shaft 10 in proportion to the constriction 'of the ports21. Similarly the driven shaft will assume a slower speed of rotation-in proportion to the increased uncovering "of the ports 21.

It will now 'be seen that I have provided "a transmission mechanism'in which 'Iha've eliminated the necessity for the usual shifting "of gears for obtaming VflT-lOllS SPEGClS.

"Further than this, 1 haveentirely eliminated the usual clutch construction. The invention embodies a relatively small *number of movingparts and the arrangement is a compact one and easy-to assemble. -1 It will be :noted substantially reach the ports 21 when they are m-ovedtheir-maximum distance toward the closedend of the section 3. The sleeves 15 "may be shifted for totally uncovering the "portsf l. At this time the=ends of the sleeves The member 19 is slidably the driven shaft, said driving shaft extending within the casing and rotatable with respect thereto,-'a d'rivi-ng gear fixedly mounted ontheidriving shaft, driven gears rotatably mounted within the casing and in mesh with -SQJdLtIl-Vl-Ilgg6fll}, said casing being provided with cylindrical chambers therein, the walls 30f said-chambers having openings therein for providing communication :therebetween,

cylindricalsleeves disposed within the cylindrical chambers and slidable with respect thereto, gpistons slidably-disposed within said sleeves, :piston rods connectingsaid pistons with the driven gears, and .means whereby said cylinder sleeves may be moved :for varying the'openings saidcylinder walls.

2. The combination with a driving shaft and aldriven ishaft, ef a *variablespeed mechanism :compL-ising a casing adapted for containing a zfluid and rigidly :connected with the driven shaft, said driving shaft extending within the casing and rotatable with re spect thereto, a driving gear fixedly mounted on the driving shaft,wclriven agearsvro- "-tata'bly mounted within the casing :and in anesh with said driving :gear, said casing :be-

' in'g' provided with cylindrical chambers therein, the walls of said chambers having openings therein for. providing communica- :tion therebetween, cylindrical sleeves disposedwithin ithe cylindrical chambers :and slidable with respect thereto,rpistons-slidably disposed within-saidsleeves, piston rods connecting said pistons with the driven gears,

; yokes di-sposed in said casingJand operatively connected with said cylindrical sleeves, and means disposed on the exterior ofxsaid casing and operatively connected with said yokes whereby-thecylindricalsleevesanayzbeimoved for varying theopenings in said scylindrical walls. 4 v 3. 'Ihe combination 1 anism comprising a casing adaptedafor containing a fluid and rigidly connected with on the driving shaft, driven gears rotatably mounted within the casingand in mesh with said driving gear, said-casing being provided with cylindrical-chambers therein, the walls of said chambers having openings therein fOP'pIQVldlIlg communicatlon atherebetween,

lith a I driving shaft-1, anda driven shaft, of avariable speed mechcylindrical sleevesdisptose'd within the cylindrical chambers "and slidable withrespect thereto, pistons slidably disposed within said;

aao

sleeves-,pislton rods connecting said pistons V, with the'driven gear s,lyokes dlsposed in said casin and operatively' connected with said cylindrical sleeves, rod members connected Withsaidykes and extending throughthe y 7 casing; and means for actuating said rod members wherebysaid cylindrical sleeves may be moved for varying, the openingsi n said cylindrical Walls.

WILLIAMIIL. SAUNDERS. 

